Rangers lose Callahan to fractured leg

Rangers lose Callahan to fractured legJust hours after their biggest win of season, the New York Rangers received crushing news about Ryan Callahan, perhaps their most important player.

Just hours after their biggest win of the season, the New York Rangers received crushing news about perhaps their most important player.

Forward Ryan Callahan is out "long term" after fracturing his right leg during Monday's 5-3 comeback win against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden. Callahan suffered the injury blocking a shot by defenseman Zdeno Chara with 1:45 left in the third period and did not return.

After Tuesday's optional practice, coach John Tortorella confirmed the injury and said Callahan will be "out indefinitely."

Callahan ranks fifth in the NHL among forwards with 77 blocks, 8 fewer than League leader and teammate Brian Boyle, despite playing in just 60 games compared to Boyle's 80. The Rangers are second in the NHL in blocks with 672.

"Callahan is a top-six guy yet he still plays with so much heart and grit. You don’t see many guys that throw their bodies around to block shots like that,” Chara told reporters in Boston. “He plays the game so hard. You have to respect a guy like that. I heard after the game that he’d probably broken a bone, so I just hope that he’s okay long term.”

The timing of Callahan's latest injury makes it even worse, but Tortorella believes the fact his team has played well with key players out of the lineup will make this a little easier for the team to handle.

"It's been going on all year long. Guys have stepped up," Tortorella said. "We'll handle it. They're used to it and we'll be fine."

Callahan isn’t just a shot-blocking forward and key penalty killer for the Rangers; he's also one of their top scorers this season. He has a career-high 23 goals and 48 points despite missing nearly a quarter of the season with his hand injury.

He had a four-goal game against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 6 that showed his overall value to the team as a leader and a complete player.

"He is emerging as one of our important leaders," Tortorella said at the time. "He brings a lot of those intangibles -- not so much the flash -- to our club. That is who we are as a team. The team isn't a bunch of flash. It is a hard-working, grinding team and it certainly comes from Cally."

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft